Mapping

Today was spent mapping a few things out.

It started with a fair bit of work on the assignment for Danielle. Last night I hit a slightly different way of attempting the mapping exercise, and it really got me playing around with that today. Having a pretty good understanding of performance groups, I was wondering how to explain the sub-cultures that Danielle was after.

Instead, I figured I could work the other way, and use the groups to describe the cultures. I identified a series of performance types, and a few historical periods that had a huge effect on the evolution of performance to what it encompasses today. The easiest way to describe this these shifts (to me, and likely to someone else from me) is to focus on groups that showcase the movement.

However, in attacking the problem from so many angles, I identified a totally different and much more relevant thread:

Opera - Happenings - Fluxus - Postmodernism - Games - Big Games

The links are obvious and can be explained in a number of ways. The general gist is an evolution from mixed-medium performance (Opera) to interactive mixed-media performance (Big Gaming). While each step may omit part of the total thread along the way, without it, there is a fundamental gap in the chain of evolution (actually, the chain kind of works on alternating links).

It also takes me directly to Blast Theory, the same group I'll likely be exploring in my thesis. Aside from being an interesting exercise in performance history, it's really nice finding the history behind what I'm looking at.

Also spent a bit of time linking Endnote, Zotero and Scrivener together. Another chain of events that make for easier work. Much easier work.

Lastly, I had an interview for a job at RMIT (the 'Link' depertment funnily enough) which leads me back to what I asked of myself at the start of semester - to get another job. Fingers crossed.

And I'm sure, when I read back over this blog in a year's time, it'll be map of it's own.